Alaska sky spiral caused by SpaceX fuel dump
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April 20, 2023
Todd Salat via AP
In this photo provided by Todd Salat, northern light enthusiasts got a surprise early April 15, 2023, when something odd was mixed in with the green bands of light dancing above the Donnelly Dome near Delta Junction, Alaska. A light baby blue spiral resembling a galaxy appeared amid the aurora for a few minutes. The spiral was formed when excess fuel that had been released from a SpaceX rocket that launched from California about three hours earlier turned to ice, and then the water vapor reflected the sunlight in the upper atmosphere.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Northern lights enthusiasts got a surprise mixed in with the green bands of light dancing in the Alaska skies: A light baby blue spiral resembling a galaxy appeared amid the aurora for a few minutes.
The cause early Saturday morning was a little more mundane than an alien invasion or the appearance of a portal to the far reaches of the universe. It was simply excess fuel released from a SpaceX rocket that launched from California about three hours earlier.
Sometimes rockets have fuel that needs to be jettisoned, said space physicist Don Hampton, a research associate...
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